For most people today, their GPS (Global Positioning System) has become a lifeline, giving directions to the nearest bathroom or restaurant. But the price we pay for the convenience could be our sense of direction.
“I do think GPS devices cause our navigational skills atrophy.” said Nora Newcombe, a psychologist at Temple University in the US who studies how the human brain navigates. “The problem is that you don’t see an overview of the area and where you are in relation to other things.”
To understand the risk, you first need to understand how our brain keeps us from getting lost. Through experiments, researchers have found that our navigational strategies usually fall into two groups. The first involves a spatial map inside your brain. As you explore an area, you think about how the streets fit together and the best way to get between different places. Eventually, the map lets you navigate between any two points in the area. The second involves a series of landmarks and steps: turn right at the gas station, and your school is on the left. It’s quick and reliable, but less flexible—it doesn’t help you get from your school to a totally new place, even if it’s nearby.
These two methods might not sound all that different, but according to Nora Newcombe, a psychologist at Temple University in the US, people who are bad at navigation have trouble with the first strategy – creating spatial maps. What’s more, people’s ability to create maps is decided by how often we use the skill.
That helps explain what happens when people trust themselves with GPS devices. According to Professor Veronique Bohbot of McGill University, people depending on GPS show more activity in the part of the brain that is good at following directions—but less activity in the part which creates the spatial maps.
It turns out that our sense of direction isn’t the only thing we could lose. One more thing that could go is our connection to the environment we travel through. Researchers have found that when people rely on GPS while driving, their memory of their trip is of a route on a screen, rather than the landscape they traveled through. Moreover, researchers believe that active navigation improves the type of thinking used in all kinds of spatial processes. “It’s things like urban planning, and looking at a map to see where resources are. That’s not replaceable by your phone.” Newcombe said.
1.______is what we may lose for the convenience of using GPS.
A.The ability to read maps B.The sense of feeling the sun
C.The chance to do urban planning D.The connection to where we travel
2.The underlined word “atrophy” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______.
A.become weaker B.become stronger
C.become more useful D.become less important
3.What may be Veronique Bohbot’s purpose in his research?
A.To explain why people use navigation
B.To prove what happens when we use GPS devices.
C.To find out people’s ability to create the spatial maps.
D.To tell the differences between the first strategy and the second direction.
4.What may be the writer’s attitude towards people relying on GPS devices?
A.Objective B.Ambiguous C.Negative D.Indifferent
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题
For most people today, their GPS (Global Positioning System) has become a lifeline, giving directions to the nearest bathroom or restaurant. But the price we pay for the convenience could be our sense of direction.
“I do think GPS devices cause our navigational skills atrophy.” said Nora Newcombe, a psychologist at Temple University in the US who studies how the human brain navigates. “The problem is that you don’t see an overview of the area and where you are in relation to other things.”
To understand the risk, you first need to understand how our brain keeps us from getting lost. Through experiments, researchers have found that our navigational strategies usually fall into two groups. The first involves a spatial map inside your brain. As you explore an area, you think about how the streets fit together and the best way to get between different places. Eventually, the map lets you navigate between any two points in the area. The second involves a series of landmarks and steps: turn right at the gas station, and your school is on the left. It’s quick and reliable, but less flexible—it doesn’t help you get from your school to a totally new place, even if it’s nearby.
These two methods might not sound all that different, but according to Nora Newcombe, a psychologist at Temple University in the US, people who are bad at navigation have trouble with the first strategy – creating spatial maps. What’s more, people’s ability to create maps is decided by how often we use the skill.
That helps explain what happens when people trust themselves with GPS devices. According to Professor Veronique Bohbot of McGill University, people depending on GPS show more activity in the part of the brain that is good at following directions—but less activity in the part which creates the spatial maps.
It turns out that our sense of direction isn’t the only thing we could lose. One more thing that could go is our connection to the environment we travel through. Researchers have found that when people rely on GPS while driving, their memory of their trip is of a route on a screen, rather than the landscape they traveled through. Moreover, researchers believe that active navigation improves the type of thinking used in all kinds of spatial processes. “It’s things like urban planning, and looking at a map to see where resources are. That’s not replaceable by your phone.” Newcombe said.
1.______is what we may lose for the convenience of using GPS.
A.The ability to read maps B.The sense of feeling the sun
C.The chance to do urban planning D.The connection to where we travel
2.The underlined word “atrophy” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______.
A.become weaker B.become stronger
C.become more useful D.become less important
3.What may be Veronique Bohbot’s purpose in his research?
A.To explain why people use navigation
B.To prove what happens when we use GPS devices.
C.To find out people’s ability to create the spatial maps.
D.To tell the differences between the first strategy and the second direction.
4.What may be the writer’s attitude towards people relying on GPS devices?
A.Objective B.Ambiguous C.Negative D.Indifferent
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Jack will hold a meeting ______ people can voice their opinions on today's global economy.
A.which B.when
C.where D.whose
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
The Internet has revolutionized our lives to such an extent that for most people, the global network has become more than just a tool but rather an indispensable aid in everyday life. More and more people go online as wireless networks have brought the Internet closer and closer: it's on our mobile phones, in our cars and TV sets, in hospital surgery rooms and in fishing boats that battle the waves of the Atlantic.
And this revolution has brought along with it a new way of shopping. Both big and small, e-commerce websites have literally flooded the Internet by the hundreds of thousands. Anything you can buy from a brick and mortar store(实体店) you can also buy online: from food and clothes to guns and bombs, no matter what you're looking for, you're bound to find the right online store with just a few clicks of the mouse.
This revolution has sent cold trembles down the backbones of brick and mortar business owners. And what was their reaction? They've opened online stores to go hand in hand with their conventional businesses. Nowadays, every "Mom and Pop's" cheesecake store also has a website. In a recent survey, 68% of small business owners have stated that they are scared of being put out of business by the powerful flood that e-commerce has become. So it's no wonder many of them have decided to join the revolution and establish some kind of an online presence even though most of them have stated that they dislike the Internet.
But do the big players have reasons to be afraid? Are we going to start seeing ghostly, deserted Wal-Marts across the country? Probably not in the near future but the day will come when most people will just stop shopping offline anymore. A trip to Wal-Marts wastes time, burns gas and sometimes adds a few extra dots on the stress counter.
The recent advancements in mobile technology and the introduction of mobile phones with improved web capabilities has even made some people order their groceries when they get out from work and have them delivered at their doorstep by the time they get home. And as "Time is money", this practice is lifesaving for people who work two jobs.
Technology will continue to advance and e-commerce will follow closely in its footsteps. Everything will become easier and less time consuming, leaving us more time to enjoy the things that really matter in life: the ones we love, our friends and hobbies.
1.What is Para. 1 mainly about?
A. The popularity of mobile phones.
B. The great impact of the Internet.
C. The importance of the Internet.
D. The function of the global network.
2.In response to the threat of online business, the brick-and-mortar store owners .
A. have stopped their traditional businesses
B. have stated their dislike of the Internet
C. have established their own website
D. have opened their online stores
3.According to Para 5, the greatest benefit of online shopping is .
A. to save time B. to follow the fashion
C. to release pressure D. to protect environment
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. A New Way of Shopping.
B. The Internet Revolution.
C. What is the Reaction to Online Shopping?
D. Is Online Shopping the Future of E-commerce?
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
People worldwide are living longer. Today, most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. By 2050, the world’s population aged 60 and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 900 million in 2015.
While this shift in proportion (比例) of a country’s population towards older ages---known as ageing---started in high-income countries, for example in Japan, 30% of the population are already over 60 years old, it is now low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing the greatest change. 1.At the biological level, ageing results from molecular (分子的) and cellular damage over time.
This leads to a growing risk of disease and eventually death. 2. That’s why we say there is no “typical” older person. While some 70 year-olds enjoy extremely good health, other 70 year-olds are weak and require a lot of help from others.
3. Retirement, relocation and the death of friends and partners are some of the possible reasons. For example, moving older people to a better house, which seems an admirable behavior, may do harm to their health eventually.
4. Some people believe older people can be active and productive. A longer life brings opportunities, both for older people themselves and for society. They can pursue new activities such as further education or a new career. They also contribute in many ways to communities. 5. This can lead to discrimination against older people. Therefore, society as a whole needs to address the ageist attitude by developing sound policies and offering various opportunities so that older people can experience fulfilling ageing.
A. Nobody can ever escape from the ageing process.
B. But these changes are only loosely linked to a person’s age.
C. Yet the extent of their contribution depends heavily on their health.
D. Beyond biological changes, ageing is also related to other life changes.
E. Although ageing is a universal trend, views towards older people divide.
F. However, to others, older people are weak, dependent, and a burden to society.
G. By 2050, many countries like Chile and China will have a similar rate of older people to Japan.
高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
How did we get the alphabet? It was a long process, covering thousands of years.
The first people to write things down carved symbols onto rocks or shells. These symbols represented people or things.
These people who lived a long time ago had simple lives with simple needs. One of the most basic needs was food. Before the introduction of agriculture, people were called HunterGatherers because they hunted animals and gathered nuts and berries for food. To tell each other about how to hunt animals or where to find them, these people drew on cave walls or on animal hides. Soon, people were growing their own crops. They were also using a system of symbols to stand for people, places and things. The best ancient example of this was found in Egypt, where hieroglyphs (象形字) were used. These people believed in many different gods. Each god had its own symbol. Symbols were also used to stand for water, buildings, food, and other parts of life.
But these picture drawings and hieroglyphs represented whole words, not just sounds. How did we get an alphabet? Recent research suggests that the idea of an alphabet was first used in Egypt about 1900 BC. Civilizations that traded with or fought against Egypt were exposed to this alphabet, and the idea spread.
The ancient Greeks adapted this alphabet and created their own. The ancient Romans polished it up to a state almost like our modern alphabet. The idea of stringing letters together to make words was born. You can see by looking at letters from the Roman alphabet that these letters survive almost unchanged in our modern English alphabet.
This was the case in the Western world. Actually, a similar thing also happened in the East. You can see many examples in such areas’ language development.
1.Why did HunterGatherers use drawings?
A.To assist them in searching for food.
B.To put a series of symbols into a system.
C.To warn their companions to hide safely.
D.To record some methods of growing crops.
2.What does the development of the alphabet reflect?
A.The difficulties ancient people have learning languages.
B.The different kinds of religious beliefs in the same god.
C.The poor living conditions and agricultural development.
D.The needs of ancient people to survive and communicate.
3.How did the ancient Romans influence the alphabet?
A.They made improvements to it.
B.They created it all by themselves.
C.They managed to keep it unchanged.
D.They turned it into the modern one.
4.What will the author probably write about next?
A.The effects of the alphabet on global languages.
B.Why the alphabet grew better in Western world.
C.How the alphabet appeared in the Eastern world.
D.A number of examples of language evolution.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Some cars are equipped with GPS for people easily to find the _________ of their destination.
A.location B.place C.area D.position
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
21.Some cars are equipped with GPS for people easily to find the _________ of their destination.
A.location | B.place | C.area | D.position |
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
China’s domestically ( 国内 ) developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System has been widely used in many public sectors and business fields at home and abroad.
Beidou has been used in dozens of business and public sector fields ( 公共部门领域 ) in China, including transportation, electric power transmission, fisheries, mining and agriculture.
Tens of millions of Beidou-based terminal (终端) devices have been sold and are in use. By the end of 2019, more than 100 million Beidou-based navigation chips, modules and other products had been sold. The system had by then been fixed in nearly 6.6 million taxis, buses and trucks around China as well as more than 70,000 fishing ships across the country. Beidou-enabled functions are also used in at least 50,000 agricultural machines and have improved their operational efficiency. More than 70 percent of mobile phones registered in China are capable of utilizing Beidou signals. In the public security field, more than 400,000 portable terminals used by the police across the country have Beidou-enabled positioning functions. Beidou has also played important roles in security work for high-level events.
Globally, by the end of 2019, Chinese products based on Beidou had been sold to more than 120 foreign countries and regions, playing a helpful role in a number of public sector fields. For instance, Beidou has helped Russia improve its electric grid inspections ( 电网检测 ), made operations more convenient for unmanned aircraft users in Cambodia, and promoted management efficiency of many warehouses in Thailand and construction work in Kuwait.
1.Which is closest in meaning to the underlined word “utilizing” in Paragraph 2?
A.transforming B.using C.passing D.strengthening
2.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.Beidou System’s navigation is accessible.
B.Beidou System’s positioning services vary in quality.
C.Beidou System’s applications spread around the globe.
D.Beidou System’s operational efficiency improves rapidly.
3.In which section of a newspaper may this passage appear?
A.Technology B.Education C.Travel D.Society
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, not to mention newspapers and magazines: a never-ending flood of words. In a job, the ability to read and understand can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are readers. Most of us bad reading habits at an early age, and never get over them. The main reason in the fact that words have little meaning they are put together into phrases, sentences and paragraphs. , however, the untrained reader does not read groups of words. He reads one word at a time and often goes back to words or passages. The tendency to look back over you have just read is a common bad habit in reading. Another habit which down the speed of reading is sounding each word as reads.
To overcome these bad habits, some reading clinics use a machine called an accelerator(加速器), which moves a bar the page at a predetermined speed. The bar is set at a slightly faster rate the reader finds comfortable, in order to train him. The accelerator forces the reader to read fast, word-by-word reading impossible. At first it is difficult to understand. But you have learned to read ideas and concepts, you will not only read faster, your comprehension will improve. Many people have found their reading skill quickly after some training. Charlce Au, a business manager, for example, his reading rate was 172 words a minute the training and now it is an excellent 1,378 words a minute. He is happy that now he can a lot more reading materials in a short period of time.
1.A. applying B. getting C. offering D. supplying
2.A. easily B. quickly C. roughly D. decidedly
3.A. good B. curious C. common D. poor
4.A. developed B. kicked C. knew D. understood
5.A. touches B. connects C. lies D. gets
6.A. unless B. after C. since D. as
7.A. Unfortunately B. Excitedly C. Surprisingly D. Generally
8.A. reuse B. rewrite C. reread D. recite
9.A. which B. what C. that D. if
10.A. breaks B. cuts C. goes D. slows
11.A. some one B. reader C. he D. one
12.A. inside B. up C. out D. down
13.A. then B. as C. than D. beyond
14.A. moving B. making C. leading D. thinking
15.A. when B. where C. what D. which
16.A. or B. nor C. but D. for
17.A. lost B. weakened C. sharpened D. improved
18.A. Take B. Look C. Make D. Consider
19.A. for B. before C. after D. in
20.A. break through B. go over C. get through D. turn over
高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up with their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications: a never-ending flood of words. In getting a job or advancing in one, the ability to read and comprehend quickly can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are poor readers.
Most reading faults can be traced to early school training. According to Dr. Betts, two persons out of five in school were forced to read material too difficult for them to understand at the time, a frustration experience which left them with bad reading habits.
Fortunately, almost anyone can learn to read faster and with more comprehension. Age makes little difference. According to a recent study of 138 students at The Reading Laboratory, Inc. , all age groups showed a marked increase in reading rate after training from 93 percent for the 50-90 age group to 142 percent for the 20-29.Dr. Mila Banton Smith, director of New York University’s Reading Institute, says that the average adult student, in 28 training hours, nearly triples (三倍的) his reading speed and boosts(增长) his comprehension by about 30 percent.
The best way to improve your reading, of course, is to enroll(登记) in a reading clinic. If there’s no clinic handy, you can improve your reading ability yourself--- provided you have no eyes troubles. (if reading tires you easily or makes your eyes or head ache, you should consult a doctor.)
1.To many people today, _______.
A. reading quickly is easy
B. reading quickly and comprehending quickly can ensure their success
C. reading is only for fun
D. reading can ensure their success
2.Most reading faults are_______
A. due to early school training
B. a frustrating experience
C. made by reading difficult materials
D. made by reading carelessly
3.Who can learn to read fast and with comprehension?
A. teachers only B. students only
C. a few people D. almost everybody
4.According to the passage, what is the best way to improve one’s reading?
A. go to a doctor
B. review what has been learnt at school
C. go to reading remedial class for special training
D. consult a dictionary
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析